Green Plum IslandCh12 - Be A Good Boy

Even though I just scraped my skin, I still have to do something about my injury in case it gets infected.

Grandpa finds single-use iodine swabs to help me clean my wound, but after inspecting it for awhile, he doesn’t know where to begin. KtOV2f

“Cousin, you do it. I can’t make myself do it!” He shoves a piece of cotton over to Granny.

“No way! Blood makes me faint!” She hides from the cotton as if it’s the plague, hopping away faster than a rabbit.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

“Grandpa…” I want to suggest that maybe I should just do it myself in the bathroom, but he doesn’t hear me at all.

He stares at the cotton swab in consternation, then shoots a desperate glance at the fourth person in the room… sEPd I

Yan Wanqiu is chewing on a piece of dried squid and watching cartoons when she suddenly feels Grandpa’s eyes on her. She looks at him calmly, and before he can even say anything, states, “I’m still a little kid.”

Grandpa: “…”

I don’t know whether he actually hears her or whether he decides on his own that asking a five-year old to clean my wound is a bit much, but he ends up going over to the kitchen, still holding the cotton swab. After a while, Yan Kongshan comes out with it in his hands.

By the time we came home from the police station, it was already one in the afternoon. Grandpa insisted on Yan Kongshan and his charge having lunch at our place before leaving. Yan Kongshan accepted his invite without much urging, and even requested to be our chef.

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“Let me see…” He sits close in front of me and brush my bangs away from my head. “It’s a little swollen. You’re not dizzy, are you?”

His hands are so warm, it feels so good to have his fingers brush through my hair. And his eyelashes are so long. From this distance, it’s easy to see where Yan Wanqiu gets her eyes from.

He applies one iodine-soaked end of the cotton swab gently onto my wound. “As long as you’re not dizzy, it’s okay.”

Granny has her hands over the eyes and keeps sneaking glances in between her fingers. “Nope, nope, I can’t look at that.” She flees into the kitchen, her mood index an ashy grey–she’s terrified. “Ah Xian, let me help you out in here.” fVxe4k

The iodine doesn’t sting, but when it touches my wound, I still feel a sharp burst of pain and let out a hiss of pain before I can stop myself. Yan Kongshan’s hand freezes.

“It hurts?”

“Just a little, it’s fine.” I spread my fingers a few milimetres apart to indicate how little.

Before I know it, cool air wafts over my wound. Yan Kongshan continues cleaning while blowing over the wound. My hands tighten into fists; I can no longer feel any pain. deQFls

There’s a tiny drop of blood near his collar that stands out against the white shirt–it must have landed there when he hit Ding Baizhou.

What feels like only a second later, Yan Kongshan moves back and tells me that it’s all done, and I can’t help feeling disappointed. Good moments only ever last so long.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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I thank the universe that Fu Wei and I never tried things out back then, otherwise I don’t think I would’ve known how truly liking someone could feel.

“No, you can’t. Even if it’s just a scratch, you have to let it heal,” says Yan Kongshan, a hint of laughter in his eyes. “Be a good boy.”

Read more BL at chrysanthemumgarden (dot) com

Such coy words coming from his mouth in his deep, seductive tenor just about kills me. I think if ears could really get pregnant, I’d be giving birth to twins.

In the afternoon, Yan Kongshan returns to the bookstore–apparently, the only reason he suddenly showed up this morning was because he left his phone at home. Perhaps some greater power truly was at work, sending him home just in time to discipline that arsehole of a man Ding Baizhou. 4JyHjq

Grandpa retires to his bedroom after lunch to nap. After the events of the morning, he’s too exhausted to go sell tea eggs. Granny too returns to her home, so that Yan Wanqiu and I are left alone in the living room watching Spongebob.

Unlike Yan Wanqiu who likes eating squid jerky while watching cartoons, I like eating sunflower seeds. I peel and eat seed after seed, unable to stop.

“That guy from this morning, was that my dad?”

I’m gnawing the seeds so intently that when Yan Wanqiu’s question comes so suddenly, I nearly swallow a seed shell and choke for what feels like an eternity. EjdSb

I peer down. She’s staring straight ahead at the TV, sucking on a dried squid, as if she asked the question just out of casual curiousity.

Forcing myself to sound nonchalant, I reply, “No, that was just some psycho. Don’t listen to what he says.”

Yan Wanqiu turns her head and slants her eyes up at me. “Do you think I’m stupid?”

I start, then shake my head. “You’re very smart.” AiubQg

For a five-year old, she’s logical and thinks clearly. She has twice the intelligence I had when I was five.

And…

I look over her head, where her mood index is a white 70. After this morning’s fiasco, she’s calm and unaffected, neither happy nor sad. She’s going to accomplish great things one day.

“Exactly,” she says sagely, “why would any smart kid believe what you just said?” oUdXuc

I grimace, trying to figure out how to rectify the situation, but then she continues, “I know Ah Shan isn’t my dad.”

“You know?!” My voice rises in shock.

“I know,” she confirms, an isn’t it obvious look on her face. “We go every year to visit Mum’s grave, but Ah Shan calls Mum ‘jiejie,‘ so if Mum is Ah Shan’s big sister, how can I be his daughter?”

“…” qJI94u

Yan Wanqiu sighs. “I told you, I’m smart.”

For a moment I don’t know whether to be startled at how intuitive she is or to feel sorry that Yan Kongshan’s sister is apparently already gone from this world.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

I reached two possibilities myself when I found out Yan Kongshan was an uncle. There are only two reasons a woman’s daughter would end up with her younger brother: One, she left. Two, she died. Unfortunately, Yan Kongshan’s sister is the latter.

“What do you plan to do then?” Since Yan Wanqiu isn’t an average child, I decide to talk to her in a not-so-average way. No more talking in circles. gUY438

“Hmm…” She ponders it for a minute. Then: “I don’t want the other dad. I don’t know him, and I don’t like him. I like Ah Shan and I want to keep living with him.” She breaks a piece of squid jerky off with her teeth. “Ah Shan is my dad,” she concludes firmly.

***

During my two days off, Yan Kongshan sends over a watermelon, two crabs, a chicken, and some crackers and milk to express condolences for my injury. It makes me feel guilty because all it was was some scraped skin–two days later, it’s already scabbed over, and in a few more days it won’t even be visible anymore. His gifts must be at least several hundred yuan.

However, Grandpa disagrees with me and says that this is how things work; if I don’t accept his gifts, he’ll feel as if he owes me and feel guilty. Yw4VFi

“No one likes being indebted to others. The sooner you pay people back for kindness, the better, because otherwise that is how resentment brews.”

His words make sense, but… “I just want him to be indebted to me,” I confess quietly.

As long as he feels like he owes me, he’ll always have me on his mind. Grandpa doesn’t hear me and goes off to the kitchen to slice the watermelon.

On the third day, I wait outside Yan Kongshan’s home eagerly, looking forward to finally getting back to work. When he catches sight of me as he comes out, he’s surprised. ytzNhq

“You’re not going to rest a few more days?” He unlocks the car door and places a half-awake, head-bobbing Yan Wanqiu into her booster seat, then gets into the driver’s seat.

I climb in the other side, buckling in. “No,” I reply. “I’m bored to death at home and there isn’t even any cool air.

“Did you not like the books I picked out for you?” Yan Kongshan asks, starting the car and maneuvering the steering wheel.

He was afraid I’d be bored at home, so he sent me two books to read. But in truth, I’ve never been one for reading–to me, it’s just a means to get closer to him. Without his presence, even the most fascinating book would be about as entertaining as watching paint dry. W86kRG

“Sure, they were great,” I say dryly, “but I just want to socialise and breathe fresh air. It’s too stuffy at home. The past two days, I’ve even… missed you all.”

My words hold ulterior motives; I want him to know I miss him. It doesn’t matter if he has no idea. After all, your crush doesn’t have to know that you like him.

After just two days away from the store, even the display window has changed. I point to the poster on the glass and ask Wen Ying, “What’s that?”

He shoots a glance at it. “Oh, the island’s ceremonial festivities are about to take place. You’ve never attended before? Every three years, there’s a ‘rain stopper ceremony’ to ask the Sky Maiden of Rainstopping to bless us so we don’t see any flooding.” vmkKe8

On the poster is a photo that I assume is from the last ceremony. Crowds dot both sides of Nanpu Street, and in between them is the wide, spacious road where twelve strong men carry a black and red sedan chair down the street. Four black wooden pillars protect the chair, and there’s a screen displayed behind it. Hanging above is an umbrella, below which a white-clothed silhouette of a person sits, pure and ethereal amongst the chaotic explosion of colours of the scene.

“That would be the Maiden of Rainstopping. We elect someone new every other ceremony,” Wen Ying explains, looking in the direction of my gaze. “Any virgin boy eighteen and under is eligible to apply.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

“…” Wait. Something doesn’t sound right. “Why is it a boy that plays the maiden?” I ask, surprised.

Wen Ying shrugs. “That’s how the ancestors decided. In ancient times, it wasn’t convenient for girls to reveal their faces, so they usually requested an actor to play the maiden. And well, the actors were all male, so the maiden was always played by a boy.” A9Y1LW

It kind of makes sense, so I don’t refute him.

In the afternoon, I stand in for Wen Ying at the cash register so he can go eat. Sun Rui happens by and, upon seeing the wound on my head, grabs my face and stares in disbelief.

“Who in the world made you end up like this?”

I bat her hands away, reminding her to not be so physical, and say: “I fell.” Then ask, “What brings you here?” K Tl5r

She leans against the cash register and laughs seductively. “To come get my Jin X Mei, of course.”

“…”

I recall Wen Ying showing it to me last time, so I go grab the book from the drawer and toss it over. “Pay up, thanks.”

Sun Rui looks over at the warehouse and shoves the book back at me, motioning for me to put it away. “What are you doing? I want Wen Ying to give it to me himself!” hEejt

I frown, not understanding her. “…You think that’s a good idea?”

She jabs her finger down at the old, worn copy of Jin X Mei and says in a serious tone, “Don’t regard the book through lustful eyes. It’s an extraordinarily well-written work of fanfiction that will go down in history. Do you have any idea how rare a work like this is in the world of fanfiction? It’s a literary miracle!”

“…Whatever makes you happy.”

I put the book back in the drawer. Sun Rui leans against the register again, waiting for Wen Ying. pdzny9

“Oh hey, you guys have posters up now too?” she exclaims, noticing the rain stopping ceremony advert on the window. “The Maiden of Rain for the next two ceremonies was supposed to be Mr. Liu’s son from the next village over, but according to my dad, there’s been a change and now we still don’t have a candidate.”

“Why?” I ask curiously.

She smirks conspiratorially. “Because Mr. Liu’s son got a girl pregnant. How can a non-virgin be a maiden?”

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